Health care in Egypt

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Are expatriates eligible to health care services in Egypt? What are the relating conditions and formalities? Find out in this article.

Egypt has a very developed health care system. So if you are planning to settle there, having access to health care services should not be a major issue. In fact, the system consists of public hospitals, as well as private and university hospitals. Private hospitals are more popular due to the quality of health care services they provide.

Indeed, despite being quite expensive, private hospitals are well equipped. Public hospitals, on the other hand, provide health services free of charge. Most of the local population prefer to visit private practitioners, regardless of the type of illness or treatment.

Good to know:

Most doctors speak foreign languages such as English or French. Therefore, you will not have trouble in communicating with them.

Mosques

Some mosques, especially in the major cities, provide better health care services than the public hospitals. Note that none of these mosques are entitled to government subsidies. However, these are not available in rural areas.

Medication

Egyptian pharmacies are rather well stocked. You are likely to find many of these in major cities such as Cairo and Alexandria. However, these are less present in rural areas, just like access to ambulance services in remote areas.

Pharmacists, in general, are qualified to advise patients, regardless of their needs. Moreover, most of them speak English.

However, beware of generic drugs proposed by some pharmacies. Make sure that the medication box contains what you have requested. You should also check whether the indications are in English or French. Feel free to refer to your doctor in case of doubt.

Health insurance

Expatriates are advised to subscribe to a personal insurance besides social contributions providing for part of health care services. As indicated above, the social security system also applies to foreign nationals working in Egypt. The Health Insurance Organization, for its part, only provides coverage for health care in public hospitals.

Given high rates applied by private hospitals and clinics, a health insurance is almost essential for foreign nationals in case of repatriation or need of an important surgery, for instance.

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